SURPLUS VERSUS DEFICIT

Thomas Itty Corepiscopa, Houston

Not too long ago one of my clergy brothers called me from out of state and told, " Achen! we signed a contract to buy a Church. It is really big. It has all the facilities - parish hall, parsonage, kitchen, basement, parking lot everything. We got the deal for three hundred thousand dollars. But the property is worth more than half a million!". I congratulated Achen and his parishioners for their achievement and commitment. Contiguously I began to think: ' what happened to the old church that used to function there?'. Did the faithful leave the church? Has the church maintenance become unaffordable for the congregation? What I understood from reliable(?) sources was that the old church ceased to function due to lack of funds to upkeep the church and keep functioning. That church was closed down and sold out due to lack of resources.

The situation similar to that exists in many of our churches too. Financial trouble. Insufficiency of resources. Every year our Archbishop send 'Kalpana' reminding the parishes and faithful of their fiscal responsibility to the Archdiocese. Is such a reminder imperative and imminent?. The churches under the Archdiocese are required to meet their financial obligation with commitment and timeliness. The yearly reminders talk loud and clear how financial hardship is hindering exultant ministry. Going through the Annual Accounts of the Archdiocese, I have noticed a trend of decreasing amounts of parish contributions. This predicament unless addressed with long term advancement in mind will perish the Archdiocese. In order to resolve this problem, the predicament should be addressed by means and ways by which the faithful themselves will take the responsibility soberly. The task of educating the believers in this regard mainly depends on the clergy at the parish level and Archbishop at the Diocesan level. With good and strong leadership coupled with heavenly graces and blessings, nothing is impossible. The leaders have to approach the environment from an ethereal point of view. With this plight of inadequacy of resources at the parish and diocesan level, and sufficiency and surplus of means at the personal and family level, let's look into the condition. By the grace of God we, who have migrated to this great country are doing better and greater than average American family in all respects utilizing the opportunities and prospects for future through hard work and tireless efforts. Still our church suffers financial crisis, our Archdiocese relay reminders and pleas. Is our community reluctant to pay?. Or, their expectation from the church is much higher than what they obtain?. I strongly believe that insufficiency and deficiency case can be overturned and could me made of sufficiency and surplus, if the approach is right and concrete and the church grows up to the expectation of the faithful in all respects.

In the book of Exodus (36:1-7) we see Moses the chosen leader of the Israelites being instructed by God to build a Tabernacle for the Israelites to use as their center of worship. Moses got into action. He looked into various aspects of the project. Appointed skilled and unskilled hands to perform the chore of building the Tabernacle. Bezalel and Oholiab were assigned with the construction responsibility. Moses talked to the people and advised them to endow towards the construction of the Tabernacle and work for the completion of the edifice. Everybody supported the Moses' plea with esteem and reverence. The final result, Moses had to ask the people not to contribute any more since there has already been a surplus . Even though this situation seems to be very difficult to imagine from the weak rational point, it is feasible from the greatest divine point. Why has this happened with the people of Israel under the leadership of Moses and not happening with us? How can there be abundant giving in a church to be sufficient or to have a surplus?. Let's look into reasons that lead to abundant giving and surplus by the Israelites. Is the absence of these features in our spiritual life responsible for our financial trouble or crisis?

Abundant giving is the result of an encounter with God. Moses was the leader. He had a personal encounter with God. He was given all qualities and abilities to be a leader selected by God. Moses was gifted to transpire the divine spirit he had received through divine intervention the same way to the people of Israel. They felt the presence of God in the presence of Moses, they obeyed Moses just like they obeyed God, they respected and revered him with untainted support whenever asked for. This is a quality that is lacking very much in the church leaders today which needs to be evaluated and addressed through self examination on a one on one basis. Once the faithful of the church regard the leader of church as Moses been the leader of the Israelites, we will definitely be sufficient or surplus, never deficient or insufficient in our resources.

Abundant giving is the result of the positive nature of the Church. Tithing is a generally accepted practice and tradition of the church. But how many of us can with clear mind say that we honestly give one tenth of our earning?. May be a few or none at all. The Church as a whole should be viewed and treated distinctly. It is very painful to mention the division in the Malankara Church. Actually, I believe, it is a war between two (or three) factions for power and superiority. Several of the leaders of these factions in the false pretense of peace and search for peace mislead and confuse the faithful and make the church and its atmosphere unsuitable for peaceful divine worship. Similar situations are seen in the general body meetings of the parishes. While we engage in activities such as this we are moving far away from divine glory and failing to fulfill our divinely commissioned responsibilities. This situation should change and the Church leaders should be able to make the faithful believe and view church as a channel through which Christ does his work. When Christ's work is visualized through the church, we will definitely be sufficient or surplus, never deficient or insufficient in our resources.

Abundant giving is the result of expansion of our faith. The level of faith one possesses may be different from the level possessed by another one. One's degree of faith in God can easily be estimated through the nature of handling of desperate and disappointing situations in life. One strong in faith will never give up hope but be strong in faith and leave everything to the will of God. Church should be able procure stronger and stronger faith among the faithful. In order to instruct the faithful and strengthen them in the divine faith and spirit, the leaders should have first hand sagacity of the guidance and protection of God in their life. When faithful's faith is strengthened through right and strong leadership, we will definitely be sufficient or surplus, never deficient or insufficient in our resources.

Abundant giving is the result of commitment to God and his service. High commitment to divine call and mission inspires unusual sacrifice. How hard and harsh our Lord sacrificed himself for the Church. Though this kind of immolation may seem preposterous, at least we could try to sacrifice a little by getting involved in church and its activities. Sincere commitment means sincere participation and involvement. A bishop, a priest, a deacon, a lay person all have to work hand in hand with deep and solid meaningful conviction in mind which will strengthen them each other and enable the church to grow with out any hazard. It is better not to mention or even think about the situations in the church today. It is a place where the emergence of unwanted elements are mostly seen. The Church hierarchy from the top to the bottom are influenced by power politics and vested interests, has fallen short of divine glory and as such has failed to achieve its ultimate mission and goal. Every one in the leadership role seems to be taking church and its affairs just like a regular routine job and does not get involved enough to transmit the spirit of mutation to the faithful.

There is a story. A large Cathedral building site. Construction was progressing well. Large number of workers are tirelessly working. Some are cutting stones, some are digging, some are working on the foundation. One way or other the site seemed to be busy. A curious pedestrian stopped by the construction site and asked a laborer " What are you doing?". "Don't you see, I am cutting the stone'" was the reply. The same observer went to another laborer and asked the same question, "what are you doing?'. "I am building a Cathedral", was his reply. To the former it was a regular routine day and routine stonecutting job whereas for the latter it was a commitment and involvement in a greater project and design. When the church leadership and clergy experience recommitment and more involvement in church and its activities, and the faithful realize the significance and positive changes thereby, we will definitely be sufficient or surplus, never deficient or insufficient in our resources.

So what is needed to achieve solid financial strength for the church?. We need spiritual transformation, continuing deep conviction, commitment and involvement. We must be able to reveal our God to others through our strong faith and by living as a visible example of divine grace. Therefore instead of reminding the faithful over and over again year after year about financial commitments by the clergy and the bishop, why don't they, the leaders, approach the notion from a different point of view with an approach of Moses aiming at creating a surplus. This is possible only by living up to the standards of the office the leaders are called in to. From my long years' priestly experience, one thing I can say with no doubt, there is not a single faithful who would just like the Pharaoh demand bricks with out supplying straw, instead each and every one will be delighted to supply the straw granted the bricks are actually meant for carrying out the mission entrusted to us.

Malankara Deepam 1998